


You Should Have Saved Yourself

by Draikinator



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Gen, Ghost Cats, set right ss Hawkfrost leaves to set the foxtrap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 15:18:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12368514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draikinator/pseuds/Draikinator
Summary: Hawkfrost leaves Riverclan territory to set the trap to kill the leader of Thunderclan and see his brother reach his full potential. He starts seeing ghosts.





	You Should Have Saved Yourself

It was his first step out of Riverclan territory that Hawkfrost noticed the smell of wet fur and home.

“Are you really going to do this?” Asked Tadpole, padding beside him. It was astounding how small he was- a tiny black kitten that barely reached his shoulder at the tips of his ears, thin legs compared to Hawkfrost’s rippling muscles. He was soaked, leaving a trail of water behind him as he walked.

“Yes,” said Hawkfrost, “I’ve made up my mind. It’s for the best.”

“Is it?” asked Tadpole.

“Yes!” snapped Hawkfrost, jumping over a log. Tadpole was already waiting on the other side, “Brambleclaw will thank me. I’m giving him the opportunity to lead his clan and improve the lives of his clanmates.”

“By murdering his leader.”

“Yes.”

“Do you really think he’ll thank you?”

“Tigerstar does,” said Hawkfrost, scoffing. He looked out over the sunset reflecting on the ripples of the lake, shimmering orange and midnight blue.

“Tigerstar also thought he had the right to kill whoever he pleased and take whatever he wanted,” warned Tadpole, “He is not your friend.”

“He’s my father,” hissed Hawkfrost as he ducked under a branch, the fur along his spine rising, “ _our_ father. How can you not trust him?”

“I’ve seen things you have not, Hawk.”

“It’s Hawkfrost.”

“You’ll always be Hawk to me.”

“Ugh,” said Hawkfrost, flicking his tail in annoyance, “You can’t change my mind. I _know_ Brambleclaw. This is only going to bring us closer together.”

“Just like what you did to Moth brought you closer together, right?”

Hawkfrost whipped around, hissing, but the tiny black kitten was unfazed, “Moth is a coward!”

“Is it really Moth that’s the coward?” Tadpole asked, wrapping his tail around his legs as he sat.

Hawkfrost flattened his ears against his skull and turned away, stalking back towards Thunderclan territory again, “Wing. Moth _wing_. She has no goals or aspirations. She’s totally content to just let the world take her wherever, because she’s a coward and she’s afraid to take what she wants- and then she cries and hates me when I take it for her!”

He passed the scent marker without pausing.

“You can still turn around,” said Tadpole, “You can still meet him to talk about what you said you would meet him to talk about.”

“And why would I do that?” Hawkfrost sighed.

“Because you’re a good cat, Hawk. You were always a good cat.”

“I am a good cat,” meowed Hawkfrost, flicking his tail, “and a good warrior, who does what must be done.” Hawkfrost sniffed the air and tasted the foxtrap Ashfur had told him would be here on his left, and when he turned towards it, Tadpole was standing in front of it in a pool of cold black water, his eyes sharp like yellow suns.

“This is not the cat whose life I saved. I didn’t trade my life for yours so you could become a murderer, Hawk.”

Hawkfrost snarled and unsheathed his claws, “That’s too bad! This is the cat you saved and you just have to live with it!”

They were both silent, the word hangin in the air between them.

“I can’t live with it, Hawk.”

“Exactly,” said Hawkfrost, his stomach turning.

“If you do this, Hawk, then I died for nothing. If you do this, then I lose my brother, forever. Don’t do this.”

Hawkfrost stared at him for a long minute, panting, before he finally snarled, “Then you’ve lost me,” and stepped through the ghostly black kitten to the fox trap.

And just like that, Hawkfrost was alone.


End file.
